Don't get me wrong, I just thought the question was an odd one asking for a comparison when both sides were not put forward. I totally agree that false accusations can damage someone for life and result in suicide and that safeguards should be put in place to protect the innocent.

Every man and woman in this country should read "the Myth of Male Power" by Warren Farrell as previously mentioned.
If it is not you accused of rape, it can be your brother, son,father or uncle.
There is never ANY justification for rape, but as a person who spent a lot of time sitting in criminal courts, the evidence can be very interesting.
The crime of Rape is NEVER about whether sexual intercourse took place...this can be easily proved. the question is ALWAYS about "consent".
Sometimes people can regret "consenting" when infidelity carries serious cosequences, such as divorce, or a "bad reputation"

Lizzie4, good point.

I've thought of the discussion as a take up of the subthread on the Newsworth Rape thread where it was suggested that a false accusation is not as bad as a rape. On it's own the question without both sides does look odd :(.

I've not seen much in the way of examples from Australia but Farrell in his book talking about US cases mentions incidents where a falsely accussed men have done jail time and when their accussers is eventually caught out the accusers get no penalty or community service.

One US military study found the rate of false accusations was at about 60%.

Farrell also talks about removing the social pressure to make false claims of rape, a teenage girl finding themselves pregnant would get support as a rape victim, possible comdemnation if she has just been experimenting with sex. Same deal for someone who has been having an affair or who contracts a sexual disease.

Somehow we need to protect the freedom to report genuine attacks and stop false claims - that may not be easy.

R0ber

Interesting topic, RObert.

I find ‘false accusations of rape’ a very serious crime. The false accusation, as you said, can stick to the victim for a lifetime.
The case of Grover is a very sad one.

There are probably no reliable statistics on the rate of false accusations, but I’ve read somewhere that they estimate it’s between 15 and 20%. Do you have other figures, RObert?
With figures like this, it is only understandable that the “victim’s” words are generally believed.
Still, every case should be scrutinised.

In the Grover case, I would like to see the woman at least pay for ALL of his financial losses- perhaps by deducting the money from her wages over time, from other income or from her tax returns. Why should he have to suffer financially while he is innocent?

Another thing that needs to change in cases of rape (false or not) is the publicity of the accused man. Why are his name or other details published before he’s even been convicted?
“Innocent till found guilty’ is obviously not the reality with falsely accused cases so it is a fair enough suggestion that a "rapist’s" details are to be protected.

I would like to think that the police who are dealing with rape incidents should be especially trained on how to recognise a false accusation.

I assume there are signs that can make a trained person doubt the claim.
How detailed are the memories of real rape victims in comparison with the false ones?
Is the story getting bigger and more ‘topped-up’ and becomes somewhat exaggerated? Then it’s likely to be a false claim.
Does the accuser experience misplaced emotions when reporting and detailing the rape? What kind of emotions are real rape victims experiencing and showing?

It must be the hardest thing for a real rape victim to go through the process of re-living her rape in detail.
If there were no cases of false accusations it would be much easier to go through hearings for them.
False accusers don't only make life harder for men, but also for genuine rape victims.

Celivia, William Farrell quotes a US air force study which found a rate of at least 60%. 27% admitted that they had lied just before taking or just after failing a lie detector test and independant reviewers used 25 criteria common to those who had admitted to lying to review other cases. If all three reviewers agreed that a rape allegation was false then it was considered false.

The same criteria were used to review accusations from two cities and the 60% rate held.

The supervisory agent was Charles P. McDowell and some material was published in an article entitled False Allegations in a US Air Force publication called Forensic Science Digest.

I've not seen other credible material on the topic and don't know how good the material Farrell references is.

Farrell also talks about prison rape, again there appears to be little serious work on the subject but one california study if projected across the US would suggest 1 Million men raped in prison each year in the US vs 120,000 women suffering a rape or attempted rape in the US each year. Guys who are falsly accussed may be subjected to real rape as part of the consequences they suffer.

R0bert

I've only skimmed the following documents so far but all seem to be interesting (even if potentially impacted by ism's).

On the false allegation issue - an NZ document regarding police handling of complaints. http://www.aic.gov.au/conferences/policewomen3/jordan.pdf

Off topic but some interesting documents on sexual assault.

"Male survivors of sexual assault and rape"
http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/pubs/wrap/w2.html
"Males represented approximately 16-20 per cent of the total reports for sexual assault and rape combined."

General Australian sexual violence infomation
http://aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/36/part1.pdf
"Anecdotal evidence from the Victims Referral and Assistance Service, a help-line and referral service for victims of crime in Victoria, suggests that males do represent a larger proportion of victims of sexual violence than is reported. Between 30 and 40 per cent of sexual assault victims calling the service were men; however, only about six per cent had reported the crime to the police (Victims Referral and Assistance Service 1999, pers. comm.)."

and

"The study was based around a questionnaire that was administered to 300 prisoners aged 18 to 25 in New South Wales prisons in 1994 and 1995. Heilpern’s key findings include that:
• one-quarter of males aged 18–25 incarcerated in New South Wales prisons report they have been sexually assaulted while they are in prison, and almost half said they have been threatened with sexual assault;"

R0bert